Joe brought up an excellent point as have many others that posted to me off-list. I thank him for it because it provides a clear example of one of the issues we face regularly when dealing with the "saturation" problem.
The list I posted contained only section 8 units. (as I knew them to be from a report I had from 6/01) The list I posted does not include public housing units, supportive housing units, halfway houses, transitional units, shelter-care units,etc. I have also been contacted by a planner who has been assigned to look at the supportive housing concentration issue. (YEAH) While the planning department has a great deal of data, it's hard to wrap your arms around it because there are so many different catagories of housing. Much of it is similar and serves the same kind of population, however, it may be catagorized differently because of a minor component of the project or service provided that makes it one type of housing instead of another. If it has this but not that, it is this type of housing. If it has that but not this, it's another type of housing and so on and so forth. The numbers are sectioned into so many catagories. Maybe that is intentional. It is always the hammer that gets used against us in these debates. It is hard to get a clear and measurable count of just how much supportive, special needs, transitional, shelter, etc. type of housing because they are all classified so narrowly. We had two very capable attorneys working full time to prepare the Lydia House report that shows the facility concentration. There is a wonderful map that shows all of it city wide. These people went door to door and surveyed the facilities in addition to using information available from the planning department and God knows where else. Advocates of Lydia house consistently tried to refute the numbers we reported saying they were wrong. I have yet to see a list of all of this type of housing that shows what the "real" numbers are according to the Minneapolis Planning Department and my guess is that a list does not exist at this point. Hopefully, the planner assigned to look at this issue will produce a new report as an outcome of her research. It is sorely needed by a great number of people including supportive housing advocates. I am advocating that the planning department work with neighborhoods like mine to map all the concentrated housing types once and for all. Perhaps the planning department can educate us about all the different housing catagories and what differentiates one type from another. My hope is that we can move to a classification that is more simplified and easier to deal with for the planners, the neighborhood folks, and the developers. I am also hoping it will strengthen the quarter mile spacing requirement and that our council members will see the need to enforce the law instead of ignoring it like they just did on CVI. I appreciated Earl Netwalls post on the spacing requirement issue. History is always nice. Suggesting somehow that Whittier, Phillips, Stevens Square and the other neighborhoods affected by the "saturation" issue are the "sacrificial lambs" for concentrating all the poor and special needs people in Minneapolis simply solidifies what I have been saying all along. This has been a policy of the city and county for at least 28 years if you use Earls date of 1974 and probably started before that. Please do not insult me by suggesting that "I knew what I was getting into when I moved here", or that "If I don't like it, I should move." I grew up in the Keewaydin neighborhood on Lake Nokomis ( a completely different neighborhood) and spent most of my life there until 1991. I moved to Whittier on purpose, not out of desparation. I LOVE my neighborhood and I am not moving anywhere. I am going to stay and work with my neighbors to shed some light on this policy once and for all. We will work through the system and attempt to change it. We can use all the help we can get. The current policy smacks of racism and classism and makes a strong case that segregation is alive and well AND intentional and purposeful in Minneapolis and Hennepin County. Not a pretty picture folks. Barb Lickness Whittier __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send FREE video emails in Yahoo! Mail! http://promo.yahoo.com/videomail/ _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
